Army Considers Shift to Open-Source Programs
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| Following the trend of the nation's government agencies, universities
| and post offices, the South Korean military is considering jumping onto
| the open-source bandwagon.
|
| Open source refers to programs, of which source codes are available for
| use or modification by anyone. The codes are not owned by an individual
| or company.
|
| [...]
|
| The Army has shown interest in open-source programs, such as Linux, over
| the past few years, and it began two pilot runs with Linux recently.
|
| It plans to invest up to 400 million won this year to build an education
| center for open-source software and establish systems to run war-game
| simulations based on Linux.
|
| In addition, Army computer officials met with Linux experts at the
| state-backed Korea IT Industry Promotion Agency (KIPA) late last month
| to delve into the feasibility of its Linux scheme.
|
| "At the request of the Army, we visited them to explain Linux in late
| August," a KIPA official said. "We hope it deploys Linux as its main
| operating system."
|
| "If the Army that puts security and stability first selects Linux, it
| would provide momentum for the country's open-source initiative since
| the decision would assure people of the reliability of Linux," he added.
|
| Linux is free software that offers an alternative operating system to
| the closed-door Windows operating program owned by Microsoft, which
| today dominates the global market.
|
| The Korean government is working to reduce its reliance on Windows by
| strengthening the presence of Linux and other open-source programs.
|
| Korea Post, the country's postal service provider, last year started a
| four-year program to install a Linux-based operating system on thousands
| of PCs in its nationwide branches.
|
| A new online information system for schools, dubbed the National
| Education Information System, also opted to use Linux-powered platforms
| on its 2,331 servers last year.
|
| In addition, earlier this year, the government designated Kwangju City as
| a Linux city and the Gangwon Provincial University as a Linux university.
| The two organizations have installed open-source software as their primary
| operating systems.
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http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200609/kt2006091517155210440.htm
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